Italian Clematis seeds , PERENNIAL flowerING VINE CARRIBBEANGARDENSEED

ITALIAN CLEMATIS – Clematis viticella  

A vigorous, deciduous climber to about 5m tall, with mid-green leaves composed of two or three lobed leaflets, and single, open bell-shaped flowers 4cm across, with four broad purple or violet-blue tepals and creamy-yellow anthers in summer and early autumn on the current seasons stems

Clematis can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs or herbaceous perennials, mostly climbing by twining leaf-stalks, and often with showy flowers. Some have attractive fluffy seedheads in autumnBorder (through medium sized shrubs to act as ground cover),

• Container gardens (again, to act as groundcover or keep the vine contained),
• Cut flower garden (flowers are beautiful and make nice additions to any bouquet),
• Espalier (there is not much depth in the z-direction but it grows full in the x and y directions),
• Ground cover (for areas where grass can be out of the question or some color is wanted); just don’t trellis it,
• Privacy screen (adds beauty and density to a fence or trellis),
• Specimen (showy flowers are enough to attract anyone’s attention and create a focal point in any garden),
• Urban garden (similar reasoning as espalier, this vine does not take up as much space and can tolerate limited horizontal area as long as there is room for vertical growth),
• Woodland garden (while not a native, some species of Clematis are and this variety will still make a nice addition or climb tree trunks if the garden is near the woods)

This deciduous or evergreen vine comes in many colors, has many stamens, and many small, dry fruits (each with a silky-plumose tail). This plant is a great climber and can be trained to be a backdrop and even grow on an arbor. This vine has twisting petioles and looks wonderful planted along a fence, in a woodland area, in a victorian style garden. 

This plant blooms on new wood- severely prune in early spring (Pruning group 3).  Plant in the full sun but provide shade for the roots.

How to Grow Clematis
Clematis prefer their heads in the sun and their roots in the shade, so use other plants to provide the necessary shade or cover the ground with stones or flat pebbles.
Sow onto good quality compost, covering the seeds to approximatley their own depth with fine grit or compost. Germination can be slow, 2 to3 months is not unusual. Grow on in individual 3 inch pots before planting out with climbing support.

• Companion Plants:

  Japanese Maple, Climbing Rose, Daylily, Hydrangea, Butterfly Bush. Japanese Maple (foliage color often compliments flower color, most Clematis are native to Japan and this combination is often grown naturally together). Climbing Rose (flower texture and colors add contrast to the Clematis flowers while maintaining a similar foliage, this is not a plant we sell). Hydrangea (can help fill in the bottom when the vine matures upwards). Butterfly Bush (an additional source of color and also attracts pollinators, while filling in the bottom when Clematis begins to mature upwards).